Education Blog

Dan Patrick’s education priorities

In previous posts I have written that Dan Patrick, the new chair of the Texas Senate’s education committee, is smart and pays attention to policy details in committee meetings. I still think that about him.

But what worries me is the education issues the Houston Republican has emphasized since being appointed chairman a few months back. He has either talked about or introduced bills that deal with charter schools, vouchers, school tax rates or end-of-course exams.

Each of those matters are important, no doubt about it. But in looking today at the list of bills Patrick has filed, there is nothing in his portfolio that really get at the nuts-and-bolts of improving teaching and classroom work.

By that, I mean where is the legislation or commitment that would follow up on the efforts of Florence Shapiro, the former chair of the Senate Education Committee, to deal with classroom teachers and middle schools?

In the 2011 Legislature, Shapiro worked many hours to craft and pass through the Senate a measure to help young teachers get better training in the classroom, give teachers more opportunities to grow as professionals, and require districts to use student data in the evaluation of Texas teachers.

Shapiro also worked hard on a bill aimed at strengthening middle schools so that students are ready for high school. The legislation would have helped schools develop a better handoff between elementary school and middle school and between middle school and high school. Those transitions are when some students really fall behind. The bill would have helped schools intervene better with struggling middle schoolers so they are not on the way to dropping out once they hit high school.

Both of these measures died in the House. So will Patrick pick up on these concepts and try to do something about them this year? He certainly knows about them since he served with Shapiro on the education committee in 2011.

I recognize the session is very young. And bills take time to develop.

But legislators could start filing bills almost immediately after the November election. And Patrick made the effort to file measures dealing with those other subjects, some of which resonate with the conservative base he leads.

Will he now move beyond these issues and get at other matters that are fundamental to improving Texas classrooms? I hope so because his leadership will matter enormously to public schools in this session.